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Libera nos, salva nos I

Introduction

John Sheppard (1515-1558) was, like Tallis, appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal during the reign of Henry VIII, having previously been Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford. Without the proliferation of printing that came in later periods, and the constantly changing allegiances between Catholicism and Protestantism, it has proved difficult to date much of Sheppard’s music, and many of his Catholic works could have been from the reign of Henry or Mary, with no great variation in style between the two periods. It is suspected that this setting of the text was written while Sheppard was at Oxford, as it was employed twice each day at Magdalen College, despite its proper use being as an antiphon at Matins on Trinity Sunday. Similar to Tallis’s Loquebantur, Sheppard’s Libera nos, salva nos contains a cantus firmus of the plainsong in the lowest voice part, beneath tranquil and measured polyphony.

Recordings

The service of Compline has inspired many incredibly beautiful compositions. This collection gathers together eighteen of the many lovely a cappella choral motets written by composers including Byrd, Guerrero, Rachmaninov and Sheppard, to a ...» More

This disc tells the story of the religious and political turmoil that engulfed England in the sixteenth century, and from which composers of liturgical music could find no escape. They were forced to follow the changing edicts about permitted texts a ...» More

Crossing several centuries, from the sixteenth to the present day this album displays how every generation has been inspired to use both sacred and secular music as a powerful medium to express their personal emotions.» More

'The performances are excellent, as are William McVicker's booklet-notes, and the great echo's presence is felt as friend, not foe' (Gramophone)'If this is Scott's swan song with the St Paul's Choir, it is a brilliant one. The choral tone and discipline are outstanding … The Hyperion engi ...» More

When The Sixteen embarked upon their recording career back in 1982, few would have been able to predict quite how far they would go towards rehabilitating the little-known music of these four master composers of the 16th century. In this their 30t ...» More

John Sheppard (c1515–1558) is thought to have been a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral in or around 1530, although information supporting this theory has proved difficult to come by. By Michaelmas 1543 he is known to have been Informator Choristarum (director of music) at Magdalen College Oxford, where he is reputed to have blotted his copybook through various misdeeds. On further investigation, this mistaken allegation has arisen from a misreading of the college’s records: it was Richard Sheppar (and not Sheppard) who was the culprit. Sheppard later appears in the records of the Chapel Royal (from 1547).

Sadly, much of Sheppard’s music has been lost. His compositions survive in partbooks at Christ Church Oxford, and testify to the elaborate style of church music from the reign of Mary Tudor (1553–1558). These were turbulent times: after Henry VIII’s death, the ten-year-old Edward VI became King. During his reign the first Prayer Books were issued by Archbishop Cranmer in 1549 and 1553. Edward bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey who was proclaimed Queen, but was arrested and executed at the Tower. Mary was a Catholic, acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope, and had Cranmer burnt at the stake, replacing him with a Catholic Archbishop. Her persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. For church musicians this must have been a traumatic time – they had to hedge their bets as to whether to compose in Latin or the vernacular. Latin music might have become passé with alarming suddenness.

This setting of Libera nos may have been written when Sheppard was at Magdalen College. Bishop Waynflete’s statutes for the college ordained that the President, Fellows and Scholars should say the Trinity antiphon (and other texts) twice each day – on waking and going to bed. The plainsong is sung – or intoned – at the outset and continues in the bass part in long, sustained notes; over the top of this the composer adds a further six parts which imitate each other as the music progresses. A striking feature in music of this period is that of ‘false relations’ – when a note and its semitone neighbour clash in a closely adjacent occurrence (in Sheppard’s case the clash is sometimes simultaneous), and in which at least one of the notes is foreign to the key or mode in which the music is written. The use of these juxtapositions is partly rooted in tradition and partly as a means of expression. There are several false relations in Libera nos and the combination of this technique and the exquisite, descending melodic contours give the music a sighing quality which leaves the modern listener in awe of its sheer beauty.